Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-11-12

| eating liquor, and how any man can like 4 b
| to me an amazementn Well, then, it is no
| credit to you that you do not taste il. Do
not brag about your total abstinence, be-
cause it is not from any principal that you
reject alcoholism, but for the same reason
| that you reject certain styles of food-you
| simply don't like the taste of them. But
| mutitudes OF people have a natural fondness
| for all kinds OF intoxicant They like it so
much that it makes them smack their lips to
look at it. They art Iyspeptc, AMI they
| take it TO aid digestion, o. they ara annoyed
| by insomnia, and they take it TO produce
! sleep, or they ars troubl ID, an they take it
| to make them obsivious, or they feel
good, and they mus celebrate their
hilarity. They begin with mint julep
| sucked through two straws ON the Long
Branch piazza and end in the ditch,
| taking from a jug a liquid half kerosene and
| half whisky They not only like il, but it is an
all consuming passion of belly, mind and soul,
and after a while have it they will, though
| one wine glass cost the temporal and eternal
| destruction of themselves and all their fam
lies and the whole human race. They would
say: Il am sorry IL is gong TO cost me, ana
my family, and all the worlds population so
very much but here it goes to my lips, and
| now let it roll over my parched tongue and
| down my heated throat, the sweetest, the
most inspiring, the m lst raptarous thing
| that ever thrilled mortal or immortal"
| To euro the habit before it comes to
is last stages, various plans were tried in
| olden times. This plan was recommended in
! the books: When man wanted to reform ne
put shot or bullets into the cup or glass Of
strong drink-one additional shot or bullet
each day, that dispiaces SO mich liquor.
| Bullet after bullet, aided day by day, of
| course the liquor became less ald less until
| the bullets would entirely fill up the glass and
| there was no room for the liquid and by that
| time it was said the inebriate would he cured.
| Whether any one was ever cured in that way
l know not, but by long experiment it is
| found that ths only way is to stop short off,
| AMI when man does that he neeis Col to
| help him. And there have been more cases
| than you can count when God has SO helped
| thu man that he quit forever, and l could
| count a score of them here to day, some of
them pillars in the house of Col.
| One would suppose that nen would take
| warning from some of the oainous names
| given to the intoxicants, and stand off from
the devastating influence. You have noticed
| for instance, that some of the restaurants are
| called "'fhe Shades" typical of the fact that
| it puts "a mans reputation in the shade, and
| his morals in the shade, and his prosperity in
the shade and his wife and children in the
| shade, and his immortal destiny in the shade.
| Now, | find on some of tho liquor signs
| in all our cities the words "Old Crow"
NIGHTLY suggestive of a carcass, and the
| filthy raven that swoops upon it, "Old Crown
| Men and women without numbers slain of
rum but unbur;cd, and this evil is pecking at
| Their glazed eyes, and peckng at their bloated
| cheek, and peckiDg at their destroyed man
hood and womanhood, thrusting beak and
claw into the mortal remains of what once
was gloriousy alive but now morally dead.
| odd CrowiN But alas, how many take
no warning. They make me think of
Caesar on his way to assassination, fearing
nothing; though his statue in the hall crashed
| into fragments at his feet and scroll con-
| tining the names of the conspirators was
brust into his b2n''e vet walking right on to
meet the dagger that wa. TO take his life.
| 'fhi; iWaGuation of strong drink is so mighty
jD many man that, though his fortunes are
crashing, and his health is crashing, and his
domestic interests are crashing. rod we hand
him long scroll containing the names OF
| perils that await him, he goes straight on to
physical, and mental, and mors) assassina-
| ton. In proportion as any style OF alcohol
ism is pleasant to your taste. and stimulating
to your nerves, and for time delightful to
all your physical and mental tEsAtitution, is
the peril awful Remember s{aathan and
the forbidden honey in the w,-,ds of Beth
aven.
Furthermore, the gamester's indulgence
must I've put to the list of tenn, -tatiOnS deli
cious but destructive. l have .rosssd the
ocean eight times, and always one of the best
rooms has, from morning till late at night,
been given up to gambling practices. heard
OF men who went on board with enough
money Tor European eAcutSlDll5 WHO
W thout enough money to get their baggage
up to the hotel or railroad station. To many
there is a complete fascination i'll games of
hazard or the risking of money on possible
ties 1t seems as natural for them to bet as
to eat Indeed, the hunger for food is often
overpoweled with the hunger for wagers. rs
in the case of Lord Sandwich, persistent
gambler, who, not being willing to leave the
dice table long enough for the taking of fool,
invented a preparation of food that he could
take without stopping the namely, a
slice of beef between two slices of bread,
which was named after Lord Sandwich. 1t
is absurd for those of us who have never felt
the fascination of the wager to speak slight
ingly of the temptation. 1t bas slain null
ttude of intellectual and moral giants, men
and women stronger than you or |. Down
under its power went glorious Oliver Gold
smith, and Gibbcn, the historian, and Charles
Fox, the statesman, and in olden times IA
nous Senators of the United States, who used
to be as regularly at the gambling house all
night as they were in the halls of legislation
by day. Oh, the tragedies Of the faro table!
/ know persons who began with slight
stake in ladies' parlor, and ended with
the suicides pistol at Monte Carlo. They
played with the square pieces OF bone with
black marks on them, not knowing that
Satan was playing for their bones at che same
time, and was sure to sweepall the stakes off
on his side of the table The last New York
legislature sanctioned the mighty evil last
spring by passing law for its defense at the
race tracks, and many young men in these
cities lost all their wages at Coney Island
this summer, and this fall are borrowing
from the money tills of their employers or
arranging by means Of false entries to adjust
their denoralized finances. Every man who
voted for the Ives pool bill has on his hands
and forehead the blood of these souls.
But in this connection some young converts
say to me: SIS it right to play cards. Is there
any harm in u game of whist or euchre9'
Well, / know good men who play whist and
euehre and other styles Of game without any
wagers | had n friend who played cards
with his wife and children, and then at this
close said: Come, now, let us haveprayers
VIII not Judge other mems consciences, but
! tell you teat cards are, in my mind, so as
sociated with the temporal and eternal dam
nation of splendid young men, that should
no sooner say TO my family: "Come, let us
have game of cards" than would go into
n menagerie and say; "Como let US have
game OF rattlcsnakes,n or into a cemetery,
and sitting down by marble slab, say TO
the gravcdggsrs: Come, let us have game
of skulls" conscientious young ladies' are
silently saying to me while speak: "Do you
| think card playing will do us any harmln